Tuchel brands talk of resting England players 'madness' as he vows full throttle against Czechia

Thomas Tuchel has declared it would be "madness" to let his England players — or their clubs — pick and choose their matches during the elongated Nations League window, promising to go full throttle for victory against Czechia in Prague on Tuesday night.

England face three games in the space of a week: Tuesday's trip to Prague, a visit to Rijeka to play Croatia on Saturday, and a return to Wembley to face Czechia again next Tuesday. Tuchel, though, has no interest in rotation for its own sake.

The one concession the manager has made is over Declan Rice. The Arsenal midfielder has been left out of the squad after a heavy workload across a number of seasons and well-documented fitness issues, and was at Wembley on Saturday to watch England lose 3-2 against Spain in their opening Nations League fixture.

Now that Tuchel has his group assembled, however, he insists there is no room for compromise — and certainly none for club managers who might want to strike deals over their players' minutes.

"I don't take calls from Premier League managers," Tuchel said. "I never called any national team coach [when he was in club football]. I cannot manage [the minutes of] the players. It's just impossible. I knew as a club coach … if I would call a coach in Brazil or Argentina, they would not know what I am talking about. The players would not know what I am talking about."

"Why would I do this and start giving the players the impression that it's OK to take a step back or share a half or to rest one match? I would never. It's madness. We want to win the next match."

Tuchel would prefer to keep changes to a minimum, even if he concedes it may prove impractical across such a demanding schedule. "I would love not to rotate but I am not sure if it's possible," he said. "An ideal scenario would be to go again and go again and go again. With six or seven players minimum that start again — to put the responsibility on them and for them to feel the trust."

Bellingham backed to keep burning bright

The most compelling candidate to start all three games is Jude Bellingham, who was at his rampaging best against Spain. The Real Madrid midfielder created a game-high five chances, set up Anthony Gordon's equaliser at 1-1 and won the penalty that Harry Kane slipped and missed — a spot-kick that would have put England 3-1 ahead. His running with the ball repeatedly stretched the world champions, and there was also the moment on 35 minutes when he clashed with his Madrid teammate Marc Cucurella.

Tuchel has no intention of asking Bellingham to dial it down, though he acknowledges the physical demands must be monitored. "It's the only style he can play," he said. "That's just his game. It's not an economic game. Let's see. I would love to have him four times on the pitch. The concern is that he hasn't done it this season in this tight period. We will need to check with the physios. We will not put Jude at any risk."

As for the flashpoint with Cucurella, Tuchel sees it as fuel rather than a problem. "Jude likes that, he gets better if that happens," he said. "It's better if he plays with a bit of rage. It's what he does. I think sometimes he is looking for these moments to get his fire going. He doesn't know any [Madrid] teammates [during an international game]. He is still friends with them but not for the 90 minutes."

"If Harry doesn't slip we win the game"

It was a wild game against Spain. England conceded early and could have been four or five down by the 35th minute, their defending loose, before rallying to lead 2-1 at half-time. The match turned in the 54th minute when Kane felt his standing foot give way as he struck his penalty and missed.

Tuchel insisted his side were not far away from beating the very best. "If Harry doesn't slip we win the game," he said. "If Harry doesn't slip we go two goals up. We were clearly the better team until that moment. Of course, Spain never panic. How far away are we from that? One small slip from Harry."

"If we had won, we would have deserved it but it wouldn't have made us favourites for the Euros. We need to go step by step. They came with their strongest team. We had some key players missing. I am fine with this performance. We could have won the game and didn't."

"Nothing we can't handle"

Tuchel accepted that the Spain defeat had increased the pressure for the trip to Prague, but remains unbothered by the added scrutiny. "It's nothing we can't handle," he said. "We need to be proactive and go for it. There is no room for managing [the players] or an economic style. It's how the team want to play, how we want to play so let's go."